It was December 2019, and a young track star from the Philippines, Rhea Bullos, a student at Salvacion Elementary School in Iloilo, was the name on everyone’s lips. She’d just pulled off an incredible feat at the Iloilo Schools Sports Council Meet, sweeping the 400, 800, and 1500-meter races to take home three gold medals. But the real story, the one that set social media buzzing, wasn’t just her impressive wins – it was what she was wearing on her feet, or rather, what she wasn’t. What was so unusual about her footwear?

Apparently, Bullos couldn’t afford to buy running shoes for her event. So she covered her feet with plaster bandages and drew a Nike swoosh logo on the top of her foot. She ran on them in the race and won. In a CNN Philippines interview, Rhea Bullos’ trainer, Predirick Valenzuela, proudly spoke about the young athlete. “I’m glad she won. She worked hard to train. They only get tired when training because they don’t have shoes.” Although the story is nearly five years old, it resurfaced this week.

Alexis Ohanian, ever-so-humble person and a longtime women sports’ advocate, took to his X and wrote, “Someone please put me / @athlos team in touch with Rhea’s family.” Moreover, he vowed, “I’m gonna personally buy her all the gear she needs for a season.” Well, that’s really a noble gesture, isn’t it? Even former German ATP legend Boris Becker appreciated it, saying, “Wow” to Ohanian’s post.

Back in 2019, Rhea Bullos’ inspiring story caught the attention of Jeff Cariaso, CEO of basketball store Titan22 and head coach of the Alaska Aces basketball team. Responding to a tweet urging Nike or Titan22 to help the young athlete, Cariaso reached out, tweeting, “Help me connect with her please.”

Joshua Enriquez then informed Cariaso that he was in direct contact with Rhea. Shortly after, Cariaso confirmed his connection, tweeting, “Thanks for the post. I was able to speak to Rhea and her adviser this morning. Thanks to those who messaged me also with her contact number.”

Almost four years later, in September 2024, The Daily Guardian, a tabloid newspaper in the Philippines, tweeted photos of Bullos at a shoe store in a local mall, trying on brand-new shoes. The tweet mentioned she also received socks and a sports bag. She later tested her new sneakers on the track.

Coming back to Ohanian, he’s proving to be a strong advocate for female athletes. Apart from his latest praiseworthy gesture, he’s been working constantly to promote rising stars across multiple disciplines. So much so that he once managed to help a track and field athlete financially.!

When Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian stepped in to help a struggling US Olympic athlete in paying house rent

Immediately after exiting Reddit, Alexis Ohanian decided to become a part of female-led sports teams and promote them further. For example, he became an investor in the Angel City Football Club (ACFC). The latter is a soccer team under the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), based in Los Angeles. The purpose of this initiative was to bring more attention to women’s soccer in the United States. Later, he decided to sell his shares to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay. But he didn’t stop his efforts to help women’s sports.

Last year, Ohanian also helped a US Olympic athlete, named Veronica Fraley, to pay house rent. Back in August 2024, she took to X and revealed her poor financial situation, urging for immediate help. “I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent 😒 my school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything 😂) enough to buy new cars and houses 👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾,” she wrote. Result?

The post went viral, gaining almost 19 million views and over 220,000 likes. Soon, popular hip-hop rapper Flavor Flav replied to her saying, “I gotchu,,, DM me and I’ll send payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry bout it TOMORROW,,, and imma be rooting for ya tomorrow LETZ GO,!!!” But that wasn’t all.

Minutes later, Alexis Ohanian also joined in to help. He wrote, “C’mon now! I’ll split it with @flavorfav” Later, he shared another post with a screenshot. It showed that he paid an amount of $7,760 to Veronica’s account. “Update! It is done.” Fraley couldn’t thank him and Flav enough. Expressing her gratitude to them, she wrote, “THANK YOU & @FlavorFlav SO MUCH 😭🥹 this makes every difference in the WORLD & I hope to represent team USA well this week 🇺🇸❤️”

In 2024, Ohanian also came up with Athlos – a project intended to bring spotlight and higher funding for female track and field athletes. In its maiden edition, in September, at the New York City at Icahn Stadium, a massive prize pool ($60,000 for first place, $25,000 for second place, and $10,000 for third place) was offered. Not to mention that this meet also attracted large viewership of three million across multiple platforms, such as ESPN, DAZN, YouTube, and X.

Earlier this year, in January, Ohanian also made a huge donation to the University of Virginia’s female basketball team. While the exact amount wasn’t disclosed, he did mention that it crossed a million dollars. Extending their gratitude in response to his generous act, the university officials later described his efforts “to elevate recruiting and player retention efforts while addressing the financial and competitive demands of this new era of college athletics.”

Looking at all the contributions he’s making to help female players, one has to admit: he’s truly an advocate for women in sports. Isn’t he? What are your thoughts on the philanthropic side of Serena Williams‘ husband?